Using Image Trace with specific settings generates large black blob made of gigantic black circles
Image Trace yields a black blob when adjusting the settings now. For instance, it renders a details drawing into a clump when changing the settings to have 1% for the corners slider. This bug is in AI 2026 only.
Ben Scott
shared this idea
-
jill
commented
Hi, I have exactly this issue. I created a trace preset that gave me the results I wanted, its been working well for years.
I still have illustrator 2025 and it works well with these settings. but in 2026 version, I get a big black lump! I use this all the time so would appreciate a fix.- Edit: its the Corners value that seems to be causing the problems. if i move this slider up (to over 20%), the image comes back (with some black blobs included) but then the end result is not as good as using illustrator 2025 as i dont want the corners value set that high.
-
Megan Lane
commented
Video for reference.
-
Megan Lane
commented
Yep! I have saved presets that I have always used to get the best result, and they just turn the image into black circles, or the whole artboard will turn infinitely black - this seems to be related to the slider for corners when the slider moves too far to the left(again, this has never been an issue before). Similarly, if noise is brought all the way to the left I get giant white circles or blobs.
No matter how much I adjust the advanced settings, I can no longer use image trace. It is actually unusable, and a major part of my job involves this tool. PLEASE HELP! It is 100% a bug.
-
I’d suggest downgrading for the moment, but I can’t really tell what previous build would be without this bug... Although you said it’s in 2026 version only.
The team is now aware of this and is going to review it soon. I’ll update when any news happen. -
Yes I get that exact thing too. Same behavior with the circles! What's the fix?
-
I can reproduce this.
When you use Object > Expand — do you see the same pile of enormous circles? -
Same results with GPU toggled off. The blob isn't just a pile of vectors its just an unusable blob. COnfirmed when looking in Outline preview as well. Definitely a bug...
-
Wow. So it’s a full half of your screen goes black?
I wonder if anything changes if you toggle GPU Preview to CPU?
What happens if you try to expand this black blob, what are you getting — nothing, a black rectangle, or the actual traced artwork?
Can you share this particular image in the comment, please? -
When the value is increased it begins to work again. But anything low does not render.
-
See attached. Image on the left is original for reference.
-
Ben, can you reproduce it with any image?
I can’t, Corners at 1% behave like expected when I try.
Please share the exact settings used and the image the team can use to reproduce it.
